Every year millions of financial documents are created for various purposes. The purpose of a financial document (i.e., any document that is related directly or indirectly to financial transactions) is usually to inform a reader about any financial matter relevant to the reader. Examples of financial documents include, but are not limited to, financial reports, budgets, tax reports, bank statements, credit card bills, policy reports, statistical reports, invoices, traffic tickets, inspection reports, appraisal reports, environmental reports, annual business reports, scientific reports, recommendation reports, and/or other types of reports.
Financial documents may include a multitude of components to help express the financial impact of a transaction, such as charts, tables, figures, pictures, fields, summaries, references, footnotes, and abstracts. Different components within a document are often related to each other and/or multiple other components.
For example, an invoice for computer repair includes a total amount owed, which is related to the cost of all the replacement parts used in the computer and the cost of labor for a technician to fix the computer. Certain times, a multitude of charges may not be included in the total amount owed such as when the charge is covered under warranty for the computer repair, waived, or part of a promotion.
In a second example, a budget sheet includes various expenses. Some of the expenses are associated with a project name while other expenses listed on the same budget sheet are associated with other project names or possibly no project names.
To determine how various components found on a financial document are related, a reader must review all the components (e.g., costs, expenses, total, project name, etc.) displayed in the document (e.g., invoice, budget sheet) and analyze each component based on information that may or may not be in the document to determine and understand the relationship to other components.